Student: Tom Rodrigues
Graduation date: May 2014
Type: Concentration (single major)
Date approved: November 2012
Summary
Bicycling has long been touted as an environmental panacea and a universal good. It is often seen in fictional utopian cities (Callenbach), and few question its “green” label. But as cycling has gained little traction as a mass transit option in America, some question the effectiveness of bicycles. I will be critically analyzing both nascent and mature bicycle communities and everything in between. I propose that we can indeed classify bike communities as nascent or mature, but there is also a nuance to them that requires a spectrum rather than disparate poles. Instead of viewing the bicycle solely in a traditional climate change paradigm, I will consider the bicycle more holistically and through a variety of angles. Along with carbon emission and air pollution benefits, other popular arguments for cycling are justified in physical health, mental health, economic, and symbolic benefits (Rashad 2007, Cortright 2009, Colville-Andersen 2012, Furness 2010, Dawson 2011). The symbolic benefits are especially interesting. In the late 19th century and early 20th century the bicycle was a tool to level the playing field. The middle class took up cycling with the advent of the safety bicycle, and women were able to leave the house on their own. This new auto-mobility from bicycles was even cited by Susan B Anthony in the early 1900s as the greatest emancipator of women, ever. Bicycles were key in developing some of the first suburbs of Europe, and they now provide an interesting lens to view racism in that time period. The bicycle has been fiercely defended as an environmental savior despite little growth in American cycling in recent decades, and it has almost become a solution looking for a problem. Even more interesting than this backwards problem-finding mindset is how the bicycle came to be this symbol for American environmentalists. I am curious about what else the bicycle symbolizes in different cultures across time and space. For example, the bicycle probably means very different things to a commuter in Cuenca, a policy maker in Copenhagen, and a businesswoman in Hong Kong. Exploring where these meanings come from and how they are changed and spread might provide insight on why people choose to bicycle and how communities change from nascent to mature. As well as looking at what people think of bicycles, it would be prudent to examine whether the popular “green” image of American cycling has any truth to it.
Situating this search in comparing nascent to mature bicycle communities, I will be able to find out how bicycles may fit into a transportation regime designed with growing environmental concerns in mind. These might be some of the practical outcomes of this concentration. My work will start with finding out what the bicycle means to different people in different places and tracing how the meaning of cycling has changed over time. Then I will look at what kind of impact bicycling can have or has had, especially regarding the popular justification categories stated previously. Given our local penchant for cycling, Portland’s more mature bicycling culture will provide an excellent comparison to nascent bicycling culture in places like Cuenca, Ecuador. As I said earlier, these communities fall on a spectrum and to round it out with Cuenca on the nascent end, and Portland somewhere in the middle, I plan on examining Copenhagen to see one of the most mature and active cycling communities on the planet. Given China’s historically immense use of the bicycle, I think it would be fitting to see how a place like Hong Kong fits in, especially as more and more people there are switching to automobiles.
References
Callenbach, Ernest, Ecotopia (New York: Bantam Books, 1975)
Colville-Andersen, Mikael. 2012. “Bicycle Symbolism- Towards the Future.” Copenhagenize. http://www.copenhagenize.com/2012/03/bicycle-symbolism-towards-future.html.
Cortright, Joe. 2009. “Portland’s Green Dividend”. CEOs for Cities. http://blog.oregonlive.com/commuting/2009/09/pdxgreendividend.pdf.
Dawson, Louise. 2011. “How the Bicycle Became a Symbol of Women’s Emancipation.” The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/bike-blog/2011/nov/04/bicycle-symbol-womens-emancipation.
Furness, Zack. 2010. One Less Car. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Temple University Press.
McKibben, Bill. 2012. “Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math”, July 19. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719.
Rashad, Inas. 2007. Cycling: An Increasingly Untouched Source of Physical and Mental Health. National Bureau of Economic Research.
Questions
- Who uses bicycles? What kinds of cyclists are they, and what do they use bicycles for?
- What historical meanings has the bicycle had? How do they differ or spread across the world?
- How effective is the bicycle as a tool to combat climate change? If it is not effective, in what ways is the bicycle a tool for environmentalism? – Though bicycling might not be a panacea for climate change, I will explore in what other ways bicycles might be beneficial. This might include public health benefits, economic growth through increase auto-mobility, mental health benefits, or even providing a common, visible symbol for a rejection of fossil fuels.
- What are the attractions and impediments to the creation of new bicycle communities? Who stands to gain from nascent bicycle communities? – In this question I am looking to see if it would be worth promoting bicycles as solutions for environmental problems. The second part of the question will look at both the individual level and community level. It is worth clarifying here that I am not doing this work so that I may install a bicycle communities in Cuenca or anywhere else, though I imagine my work will be helpful to do so. My goal is to understand the feasibility of developing a community, and to understand how the meaning of the bicycle is created, spread, and changed historically and regionally.
Concentration courses
- SOAN 222 (City & Society, 4 credits), spring 2014. As I'm studying nascent bicycle communities primarily in cities, it would be wise to give myself a background for more general studies of society especially in an urban context.Though this course is offered in the Spring, it would not have been specific enough to change my research in Ecuador, and it might still guide some of my analysis during the second semester of my thesis.
- ECON 332 (Urban Economics, 4 credits), fall 2013. This course will be another great way to get a larger context of cities. The course even deals with related ideas of congestion and sprawl. It even delves into why cities exist. All will be immensely helpful to my studies.
- ENVS 499 (Independent Study, 2 credits), fall 2012 and fall 2013. I've been preparing for my research abroad in Ecuador with Liz. I've been doing background reading this Fall, and when I return I'll be able to reflect on my time abroad and how it will fit in with my thesis next year.
- PSU (Urban Planning courses, ~4 credits), summer 2013. I'll probably have to take two of these courses, due to how credits transfer from this school. Examples of possible courses include USP 407/507 Transportation Seminar and USP 456 Pedestrian and Bicycle Planning. Link to course catalog. These courses will offer a great look at the policy and planning side of bicycle transportation.
- SOAN 214 (Social Change, 4 credits), fall 2013. This course would fit into my concentration because bicycles have a history as tools for social change. It would also be interesting to see how societies shift in a larger context than transportation issues.
- SOAN 221 (Sociology of Work, Leisure, and Consumption, 4 credits), fall 2013. This course seems fairly relevant. This course might offer a different perspective regarding how leisure is viewed and how consumption is viewed, as I'm only familiar with America-centric values of work, leisure, and consumption.
- ECON (Behavioral Economics, 4 credits), spring 2014. I think I might take this course anyway, but this course would be a great background to examine transportation choices in an economic lens at the micro level.
- IA 238 (Political Economy of Development, 4 credits), spring 2014. This course would be excellent to see how the state contributes to development. As bicycle infrastructure is headed by the state and often cited as a key condition to creating bicycle communities, learning how the state operates in development is crucial.